Water rate hike forces golf course to auction block

Chamisa Hills Golf Course hits auction block May 29

Chamisa Hills Golf Course is now up for auction because the owners said it’s too expensive to keep the greens in the green.

The picturesque club, beloved by many Rio Rancho golfers, will hit the auction block soon. The owner told Action 7 News the city council hiked water rates nearly 700 percent on the club.Rio Rancho mayor Tom Swisstack said the water rates needed to go up in order to meet the city’s rising costs of purchasing water, but the increase was meant to be gradual.

“(It was intended to be) about 8.5 percent every year for the next 5 years,” Swisstack said.

But now that the golf course is shuttering, Swisstack said the city council should rethink the price of water before other companies boil over.

“Maybe we can stretch this out so it's not such a big hit,” Swisstack said.

The golf course and country club is the largest piece of open land within the Rio Rancho city limits, and the mayor said it could become a public park if no investor purchases the land.

“It could be a public golf course, it could be an area of open space that we maintain,” Swisstack said. “I think everything should be open for discussion.”

The owner of the course said it will go to auction May 29, and then he has 30 days to close.

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